Anne R. Allen's Blog... with Ruth Harris
Writing about writing. Mostly.
Writer’s Block happens to a lot of us. by Ruth Harris You hate your book. You hate your characters. The plot sucks. You have no talent and don’t know what you’re doing or why you’re doing it. On REALLY bad days, you even hate your computer which just sits there like a bilious toad and […]
by Ruth Harris Meh. With a Shrug. The book’s not terrible. Not at all. The settings are well-drawn, the dialogue’s more than halfway decent, the reader can even tell one character from another — but, bottom line, it’s meh. With a shrug. Something’s missing. What’s the x factor? What’s the mysterious something that turns meh into mahvelous? OMG. Are […]
by Ruth Harris There are some great reasons for writers to give thanks— That brilliant idea that comes out of nowhere just when you were about to give up. The reader who absolutely gets what you’re doing and says so in an intelligent, perceptive review. The google doc that goes everywhere you do seamlessly. Scrivener […]
by Ruth Harris The style sheet is a writer’s secret power — and best friend. A style sheet will save you time, frustration, and money. A style sheet will save you from yourself and prevent you from making the kind of mistakes that will send readers fleeing and guarantee one-star reviews. If you’re writing a […]
by Ruth Harris You might have thought because you’re staying at home that you’d have more free time to start/finish a book or take an on-line yoga class. But in reality, because we’re all spending so much time at home, much of that time is consumed by eating which means food prep and cooking (which […]
I have to admit that when Ruth Harris first talked to me about “writer masochism,” I cringed. I realized she was describing me. Not so long ago, I fell so deeply into the writer-masochism pit, I couldn’t see a way out. I gave exclusives, signed onerous contracts, accepted puerile assessments of my work as gospel truth, […]
